pouring boiling water into the caldera caddy

I use mine for coffee and soup every trip.

Works great.

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for your reply. My concern is whether adding boiling water to the plastic container can release any kind of toxic substance from the plastic.

rhz

Rafi,

Check the bottom of the container. You are looking for the recycling triangle with the rounded corners and arrow points. There is a number inside of this triangle.

You can refer to the following links for the information that you are looking for about toxicity.

http://www.ehow.com/how_8214267_tell-plastic-bpa.html

"Look for the numbers "1," "2" or "5" on the bottom of products. Containers with these numbers are free from BPA".

http://www.bisphenol-a.org/whatsNew/20080131.html

Read the whole article but your question should be answered in the portion of the article sub-titled, "What Does the New Data Mean"?

http://ecovillagegreen.com/903/what-do-the-plastic-recycling-numbers-mean/

"What Do The Plastic Recycling Numbers Mean"?

My search was geared towards BPA. Research is ongoing in this area.

I cannot personally guarantee the accuracy of the information in the above links. I like you am just interested in being safe.

BPA is not the only chemical under study. Google estrogenic chemicals in plastics and you'll get enough info to make your head swim!

Party On,

Newton

Rafi,

"Food Grade" plastics are "safe" when used with boiling water.

"Safe" means they don't contribute any more than a certain amount of nasty stuff to your food. For instance, "no more than 5 parts per billion", or something like that as determined by the FDA, for various chemicals.

So, if you trust the FDA (ummmmm….) adding boiling water is ok.

"Food Grade" is not guaranteed by a "recycle number". Although the stock itself may be "food grade" the manufacturing process could introduce/allow undesirable chemicals, especially if it's end purpose is Not food related.

If the container was designated as food grade, and used as such, all is well.

Your scenario is clear. A Food Grade container for a "Food Application".

Food grade is not a temperature rating.

Something can be food safe at 22C and be rather toxic at 212F.

Rafi,

I wondered about this a s well and i feel reasonably comfortable using the caddy for cold cereal and drinks but do not use for hot beveridges regardless of what the literature says. Just my practice without giving it a whole lot of thought.

Don't the plastic screw threads get in your way? I would expect that food would collect in there.

I've often wondered why Trail Designs didn't use the plastic caddy pieces without any screw threads. It would have been cheaper, even if it didn't hold together so tightly.

–B.G.–

My Caddy has a "PP" designation in the little triangle –

"PP (polypropylene) has high tensile strength, making it ideal for use in caps and lids that have to hold tightly on to threaded openings. Because of its high melting point [266°F to 340°F], polypropylene can be hot-filled with products designed to cool in bottles."

I believe Rand, at Trail Designs, when he says the Caddy is "food grade".

Hence I believe that a Caddy is safe with boiling water.

["Safe" – see the caveat posted above]

"don't the screw threads…."

I agree! No threads would be better and easier to clean.

I use it to re-hydrate my food (although I do that mostly inside vacuum seal bags) and the top for hot drinks
Food does not reach the screw area and it isn't a problem (for me) to wipe the thread in the cap after a hot drink.
Incidentally polypropylene does not have a "taste" for me, so I'm happy with that.
Because of the shape and structure I find it really easy to wrap it with spare clothing or my sleeping bag to make a temporary cozy.
(we don't have bears here…)
Franco